"Lily Evans!" James said, dreamily. He crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back against the couch in the Gryffindor common room. After years of successfully failing to ask her out on a date, she finally agreed to go with him on their next Hogsmeade trip.

"Took you long enough," Remus said quietly as he flipped through his potions textbook. He was the lucky one to hear about the love story of Lily and James from both sides. When Lily and Remus would meet during the week to study, she always told him something about James, whether it's about his loud mouth or how she thinks James plays Quidditch so recklessly. He was curious to see how Lily will explain what really happened when she accepted his offer.

The boys lounged around in the common room, talking about their upcoming pranks, girls, and, in James' case, Lily. It was mostly banter between Sirius and James, with Remus chiming in his two cents. Peter was in the library studying with some other students.

At some point during their conversation, the boys decided to take a walk around the school. It was a Saturday, and Sirius decided he wanted to get himself into some mischief.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," James whispered, pointing his wand at a blank parchment. Within seconds, ink appeared on the parchment, outlining the shape of Hogwarts and its hallways. Tiny footsteps floated through each of the hallways, a small banner with the name that belonged to those feet followed closely behind.

"Looks like Filch is patrolling again. Let's go on this side," Sirius said, pointing at one side of the map.

James nodded as he pointed his wand at the parchment again, whispering, "Mischief managed," waiting until the ink fully disappeared before handing it over to Remus. The three made their way back to the castle, laughing and talking about what they had planned to do. They decided to pass by the Quidditch Pitch on their way back, sneaking a peek at the Ravenclaws as they practiced. They passed several groups of students, some eyeing them suspiciously (mostly Slytherin) and some (mostly girls) trying to get Sirius' attention, which he gave with a simple wink.

As they turned the corner, Remus looked up to see a familiar set of brown curls. She was completely oblivious to the Marauders as she made her way into the library. He realized she was wearing a Hogwarts uniform, complete with Gryffindor tie.

"Hey, it's the girl!" Sirius said excitedly, pointing to the library door that she had just walked through. Before he could say another word, both James and Remus were already making their way into the library.


Hermione felt like she had no other choice, so she accepted Dumbledore's offer to stay at Hogwarts. To her relief, her living quarters in Gryffindor Tower were separate from the student dormitories, and her entrance was through a separate hallway. In the short time she has been at Hogwarts, she has had minimal student interactions, save for the few that frequent the library and seek her help.

She was in process of re-shelving some books when she heard the familiar sound of the library doors opening and closing, followed by several footsteps. 'Must be another study group,' she thought as she took a book from the stack next to her and held it upright until she felt the library's magic lift it to its resting place. She continued through several aisles, replacing books to their rightful, catalogued place.

"Prongs!"

Hermione turned, looking for who the voice belonged to.

"-fore she sees you!"

Her face paled for a moment when she realized it was Remus Lupin she was listening to. She quickly set the next book upright, and took off to the next aisle to set some distance between her and the werewolf.

As much as she wanted to befriend the young Remus, she was also terrified that her interactions with him would make changes to the future. She was still holding out for the chance to make it back to the future, and she didn't want to risk any of it changing because of any action she might make in the past. 'For the greater good, and for Harry,' she would remind herself when the urge became too great.

"You're a new face," a voice said next to her.

She gasped and turned to face a young Sirius Black. He still had the same black hair and that arrogant, cocky grin on his face. He looked very different during this time, clearly seeing the difference between pre-Azkaban and post-Azkaban. This Sirius didn't have a hardened face, but instead had a face full of happiness and mischief. These eyes didn't scream that he was betrayed, or that he had seen his best friend's body and his wife laying on the ground. His body was lean as ever, that never changed once he got into his adulthood. There were no tattoos peeking out of his collar, and, dare she think it, his hand was free of fire whiskey.

"Sirius Black," he said, winking as he shot his hand out.

Hermione looked at his hand as a million questions started racing in her mind.

"Miss Granger," she replied, nervously shaking his hand.

"See! That wasn't so bad," Sirius said towards the end of the aisle.

Hermione turned to see both James and Remus standing there. Remus stood with his eyes glued to Hermione, occasionally flickering between her and Sirius. Hermione could tell he was fighting Moony again, and his need to come and protect. Based on her relationship with her own Remus, she figured he sensed her uneasiness that was caused by Sirius. She gave a small smile to him, and almost instantly she noticed Remus' shoulders slump in relief.

"You were the one that was in the hospital wing with me," Remus said, taking a step forward. "And we ran into you down in Hogsmeade."

"That would be correct," she replied, turning and finally letting the book return to its shelf. "I apologize for running off, I was in a hurry to be somewhere. Is there anything that I can help you with?" she asked, her voice slightly trembling. Her eyes looked at all three of the Marauders, her hands firmly holding onto the book she was about to re-shelve, her knuckles turning white.

"We just saw you coming in here and thought we would introduce ourselves," Sirius said, dramatically bowing. James rolled his eyes at the grand gesture.

Remus stepped forward and introduced himself. "Remus Lupin," he said, putting his hand out. He could sense her heart rate elevating as she took his hand and shook it. "A pleasure to finally - and formally - meet you," he added with a chuckle.

Hermione laughed. "I suppose that's right, I apologize for how I acted before," she replied, a slight blush creeping up on her cheek. For someone that she had, until recently, became close to, she felt very shy seeing his younger counterpart. Memories of their late night readings flooded her mind as their hands separated.

"I'm James Potter," the last of the trio said, eagerly putting his hand out for her to shake. He looked at her with a bit of mischief in his eyes, his mouth turned up into a wide smile. He was finally able to look at her without risking her walking away, taking in her wild, curly hair, fair skin, and her hard, piercing eyes. He noticed she was now wearing staff robes over her Hogwarts uniform. "Are you a part of the staff?"

Hermione quietly gasped as she looked into James Potter's eyes. She felt like she was looking at her best friend again, and she had to mentally remind herself that this boy in front of her wasn't Harry. He was tall like Harry, but she could immediately tell that his father had more muscle on him, mostly due to the fact that he was a Chaser. They both had the same dark messy hair, and the same glasses with the same goofy smile. It was their eyes that were different, and that was what she had focused on to remind herself that this was not Harry.

"Yes and no," she answered, shaking James hand. His hands were soft, and she tried not to dwell on that thought too much. "I'm assisting here in the library while I take a few classes to complete my studies."

That wasn't the complete truth, but they didn't have to know that.

"Well then, welcome to Hogwarts," James said, stepping a bit closer to Hermione, still not letting go of her hand. "Ms. Granger."

Sirius eyed the two suspiciously as Remus put his hand on James' shoulder. James lightly squeezed Hermione's hand before letting go and looking at Remus, who jerked his head towards a familiar redhead.

"I believe that is our cue to leave. See you soon, Ms. Granger," Remus said, waving to Hermione before following James who was practically levitating to an unsuspecting Lily.

"See you later, kitten," Sirius said, winking at her before following the werewolf.

Hermione huffed at the pet name before turning back to her stack of books. She returned two more books in that aisle before going to the next.

She spent the rest of her day in the library, stationing herself at the librarian's desk where she was able to monitor the students coming in and out. In front of her were the few books Hogwarts had on time travel, a roll of parchment, and her quill that was worse for wear. Sometime during her study session, she heard the Marauders leaving the library.


Much to Hermione's relief, she was able to avoid any other interactions with the Marauders. She would occasionally see Remus in the hallways or walking into the Library to meet with Lily for their study sessions, but they would only smile at each other before returning to what they were doing. Winter finally came and the halls were quiet once the students left to be home for the holidays.

The quietness of the school made Hermione realize that, not only does she need to figure out how to get back home, but there is also a war looming over everyone's head. It was painful for her to know what would be the outcome, knowing she cannot do anything to change it.

"If only I could save just one," she said to herself one day, chewing on her thumbnail as she walked through the deserted halls. She was looking down the whole time, brow furrowed in concentration, and it was too late before she realized there were another pair of feet in front of her.

Soft, familiar hands held her before she could fall back, and she looked up at Hazel eyes and black messy hair.

"Save one what?" James asked, looking into her brown eyes. She did not have the piercing stare that she did the last time they talked. She now had the look of surprise with a hint of innocence and annoyance. He stared at her as he breathed in her unique smell of fresh parchment and honey – an interesting combination.

"Nothing. It's nothing," she said hurriedly, stepping back from James who reluctantly let go of her. She took one last look at James before running off.

James watched as she hurried off, trying to understand what she was talking about. He couldn't get the smell of honey and parchment out of his mind, and followed the path she took around the corner, only to find her gone.